Director Nate Parker, in his theatrical feature film directorial debut, couldn’t have chosen a more audacious title, “The Birth of a Nation,” intentionally referencing producer-director D.W. Griffith’s “The Birth of A Nation,” which purported to tell the story of the United States’ Civil War and the Reconstruction era that followed. The 1915 silent epic film is credited with the birth of a revived Ku Klux Klan.

Parker’s 2016 “Birth of a Nation” recounts the story of Nat Turner (portrayed by Parker) who led what is said to be the deadliest slave rebellion in U.S. history. In 48 hours in August 1831, Turner and some 75 slaves killed an estimated 65 whites in Southampton, Va. The slaves were killed in a massacre at Jerusalem or hung there six weeks later when caught, including Turner. Some 200 additional blacks were killed in the aftermath and southern slavery policies were tightened.

The 2016 “Birth of a Nation” is a kind of counter-argument to the 1915 “Birth of a Nation.” Simply put, Parker seeks to set the record straight not directly regarding Griffith’s film, but rather concerning the plight of African-American slaves and what became the Northern states’ rallying cry, to “free the slaves.” Of course, the Civil War was more complex and hinged on the very sovereignty of the U.S. when seven southern states seceded after the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 on a platform to keep slavery out of the territories. The Confederate attack on Fort Sumter in April 1861 sealed the fate and started the Civic War.

Parker’s “Birth of a Nation” is one of 2016’s most powerful films and deserves to be seen. It follows in the wake of “12 Years A Slave” (2012), which received three Oscars (film, screenplay and actress for Lupita Nyong’o) and nine Oscar nominations, and the under-appreciated “Free State of Jones” (2016).

Parker, who has acted in numerous feature films (including “Beyond the Lights,” “About Alex,” “Non-Stop,” all 2014), directs from a screenplay he wrote based on a story he co-wrote with Jean McGianni Celestin (in her theatrical movie debut).

Turner is depicted, fairly accurately from most historical accounts, as a bright, precocious, Bible-knowledgeable youth and preacher, dubbed “The Prophet” who becomes increasingly preoccupied with visions, signs from God and the atrocious mistreatment of slaves by plantation owners (Samuel Turner, portrayed by Armie Hammer, and his wife, Elizabeth, portrayed by Penelope Ann Miller) and employees (Raymond Cobb, portrayed by Jackie Earle Haley). When Turner’s slave wife, Cherry (Aja Naomi King), is violated by the slave masters, Turner is convinced that he must mount a rebellion against the white slave-holders.

Parker’s “The Birth of a Nation” is a visceral cinematic experience. There are many disturbing moments of cruelty and violence fomented on the black slaves. The violence in the rebellion and its defeat is also extremely squirm-inducing.

Parker is an unconventional director, or maybe just an old-fashioned director. He lets scenes breathe. He holds the moment. He uses symbolic editing as he cuts from one scene to the next. The film is lensed creatively by Elliot Davis (“Twilight” 2008; “The Iron Lady,” 2011) and edited superbly by Steven Rosenblum (“Glory,” 1989; “Braveheart,” 1995; “X-men,” 2000; “Blood Diamond,” 2006).

Director Nate Parker’s “The Birth of a Nation” is devastatingly powerful cinema.

“The Birth of a Nation,”MPAA Rated R (Restricted. Children Under 17 Require Accompanying Parent or Adult Guardian.) for disturbing violent content, and some brief nudity; Genre: Biography Drama; Run Time: 2 hrs.: Distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures.

Credit Readers Anonymous:Nina Simone’s “Strange Fruit” is heard on the soundtrack during particular moving scenes in “The Birth of a Nation.”

Box Office,Oct. 14: “The Accountant” tallied enough numbers to open at No. 1 with $24.7 million, keeping “Kevin Hart: What Now?” way back at No. 2 with $11.9 million, one week, and pushing “The Girl on the Train” from No. 1 to No. 3, with $11.9 million, $46.5 million, two weeks;

4. “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children,” $8.9 million, $65.8 million, three weeks; 5. “Deepwater Horizon,” $6.3 million, $49.3 million, three weeks; 6. “Storks,” $5.6 million, $59.1 million, four weeks; 7. “The Magnificent Seven,” $5.2 million, $84.8 million, four weeks; 8. “Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life,” $4.2 million, $13.7 million, two weeks; 9. “Sully,” $2.9 million, $118.3 million, six weeks; 10. “The Birth of a Nation,” $2.7 million, $12.2 million, two weeks.

Unreel,Oct. 21:

“Jack Reacher: Never Go Back,”PG-13: Edward Zwick directs Tom Cruise, Cobie Smulders, Danika Yarosh and Ninja N. Devoe in the action-thriller as Jack Reacher yet again must clear his name.

“Ouija: Origin of Evil,”PG-13: Mike Flanagan directs Henry Thomas, Elizabeth Reaser, Doug Jones and Kate Siegel in the horror film about a widowed mother and her two daughters whose new twist to their seance scam business gets out of, ahem, hand.

“Keeping Up with the Joneses,”PG-13: Greg Mottola directs Gal Gadot, Isla Fisher, Zach Galifianakis and Jon Hamm in the comedy about a suburban couple who discover their neighbors are government spies.

“Boo! A Madea Halloween,”PG-13: Tyler Perry Cassi Davis, Patrice Lovely, Yousef Erakat and himself in the comedy who keeps watch on misbehaving teens as she fends off apparently real ghosts and ghouls.

“American Pastoral,”R: Ewan McGregor directs Jennifer Connelly, Dakota Fanning, Peter Riegert and himself in the drama set in 1968 about a daughter’s radical politics tearing apart a middle-class family.

“31,”R: Rob Zombie directs Malcolm McDowell, Richard Brake, Jeff Daniel Phillips, Sheri Moon Zombie and Bethlehem’s own Daniel Roebuck (as Pastor Victor) in the horror film about five carnival workers held hostage by sadistic clowns.

Three Popcorn Boxes out of Five Popcorn Boxes